Any Religious, National, or International Law Dealing With Engineering Ethics

• Any Religious, National, or International Law Dealing with Engineering Ethics
• Reasons why Engineers Stray from the Code of Ethics

• There are two main reasons why Engineers often stray from their code of ethics. The first reason is
because they are overconfident in their work, which in turn causes them to neglect things that might be
wrong with it. They may overlook small mistakes or remain stubborn about their beliefs because they
think highly of their education level. However, in engineering, these small mistakes might be the very
thing that causes a disaster (e.g. the Challenger and O-rings). Another reason why Engineers stray is that
they are impatient. They are excited about their work and want to see it in action in the world, so they
send it out before it’s ready. Sometimes it is not even their fault, but the fault of their authority figures
(i.e. boss or managers). Their authority figures can be impatient and give them a short deadline to work
on the project. Impatience does not allow room for iterations of the processes involved in design, testing,
and implementing a product or project. Iterations are often needed to increase confidence that the
product will work and that, more importantly, it will work safely.
• Thus, it is recommended that engineers check their work at least twice and even have others check their
work no matter how little time they have left or no matter how excited they are about submitting the
project. If they know they have a short deadline, they can either manage their time better to have room
for several revisions or ask their boss for an extension. Engineers should also try to be open to other
ideas and admit that they could be wrong.
Applications of Professional Ethics
• Engineering Ethics in College/Education
• The main engineering ethics problem that college students are face with is academic integrity.
Academic integrity can show itself in the form of cheating by copying someone’s work, intentional
cheating, plagiarism, and/or self-plagiarism.
• However, professional ethics is something that can be learned even when it conflicts with personal
ethics, as for example, a situation where you are personally okay with building a product that can
harm the environment, yet save lives. You can learn professional ethics and realize that something
that is harmful to the environment is not okay. Ethics codes can even help you see the bigger picture.
For example, in the previous scenario, these codes can help you re-evaluate your ethics and realize
that something that is harmful to the environment will eventually be harmful to the people around
you and yourself.
• Thus, there are many ethics classes in universities across the world. Some universities even require
engineers to take classes on ethics. For example, Cohen et al. (2005) developed a model called the
Air Model (AIR)SM to help students reflect and develop their personal code of ethics. AIR stands for
Awareness (of ethical issues), Investigation (of those issues), and Responding (to those issues).
• Engineering Ethics in the Professional World
• In the professional world, ethical engineering problems come up
in many cases. One of these includes the case of a professional
using someone else’s work that is published in the widespread
market of publication. Another is the case of a professional using
someone else’s work that is not published yet and stealing their
idea. Engineers who have good engineering ethics often have a
good sense of the value of life. They don’t hesitate to admit that
they made a mistake because they know that the cost of not
owning up to your mistakes can have disastrous consequences. It
might even cost a human life.
• Engineering Ethics in Companies
• Not only do individual engineers have to be conscious of
engineering ethics, but also companies. Companies have to be
aware of their Corporate Social Responsibility and
Environmental Responsibility. Corporate Social Responsibility
is a company’s responsibility to give back to the community that
they profit from and to behave ethically so that both they and
their community can benefit. Environmental Responsibility is a
business’s initiative to leave the environment (where it is taking
its resources from) the same, if not better, that it is found it.
• Engineering Ethics applied to Senior Design
Project
• Thus, as seniors in college, we are making the transition from an
academic environment to a professional environment. The
further we are in our career path, the more important ethics is,
especially engineering ethics. Thus, the soon we start defining
our ethics the better, beginning with our final project in college
and the first design project of our lives: our
Senior Design Project.
Ethical Cases and Contemporary Issues

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